Minature Touring cars

[Herminator]

I also got to see the rear wheels of the guy who seems to be getting the best grip, they were unbelievably angled, it looked like the wheels from a sports wheel chair. He was also usng very narrow tires, the 21mm type. :confused:

[touringlegend]

i'm still waiting for my car!!

[Hobson]

Where did you order your TC3 from, touringlegend?

I think it would have been quicker to go to USA to pick it up yourself!

[Herminator]

LOL, why did you not just order it from another shop? It seems a tad stupid that they haven't managed to get any kits in yet. How long's it been now, almost a month? You'll never be able to gain a good championship position at this rate. Have you been driving your tamiya around at the club? Some people have been driving some very strange tamiya type cars at our club, I think most have decided they need a proper car, thank goodness, since they are just something to rear end into when you can't avoid them in time.

[touringlegend]

I've not ordered it as such, just requested it. They know I want it, they reckon this week, the 4th Championship night is two weeks from today.

I haven't bothered with my Tamiya as i'd need to buy stuff for it,m which I aint doing.

[Hobson]

I would tell the shop to forget it and order it from Modelsport instead. It would get to you quicker.

[touringlegend]

Thats what I'm starting to think. I don't know what/who to believe, they say they are having trouble with the deliveries.

[touringlegend]

Einen doppel post.

[Herminator]

Hmm... it seems to be a long time to sort out a delivery, if you aren't getting it any cheaper I would order it from somewhere else, you could have it the next day with some places. And if you order other stuff at the same time they will more than likely give you a discount of some sort.

[Griffin]

Originally posted by Hobson
I would tell the shop to forget it and order it from Modelsport instead. It would get to you quicker.

I don't know any shops that specialise near me, so I was thinking of getting mine (if I get it) from Modelsport. Are they quite well known then and would be a safe bet to order over internet from them?

[Herminator]

Yes they are well known, I ordered stuff from them over the internet fine, there is also Apex models and Al's Models who are well known and have good stock levels. I ordered my kit from Tay racers, in the back of any model mag, They are based near Perth and I was told about them by my club mates, being so near delivery is quick. Just ring and browse around to find the best deal, not forgetting postage.

[touringlegend]

forgot to phone shop tonight, arggh! anyway, always tommorrow nite...

[zealot]

I'm late in getting to this thread, so you guys may have already mentioned this, but Tower Hobbies (towerhobbies.com) is THE place to order R/C stuff from. They have all major manufacturers, and are prompt with delivery.

[Herminator]

Let me guess Zealot, you're from America? We are all in the UK and unless you want to pay import charges and wait weeks to get anything it is not worth us ordering from Tower Hobbies. They do deliver to other countries but it costs about £60 extra for delivery alone and then if it gets stopped at customs you have even more to pay. Although things are much cheaper in the US, almost the same in dolars that we pay in pounds , If I ever go to america again I know I will be stocking up on things. I just got ack from a practise night, getting used to the slight changes in track layout, but you still feel sorry for the car when you clip a corner and hurtle into the opposite barrier, ouch wood isn't very forgiving. The new TC3 guy seems to be getting the hang of things very quickly, apart from a few hard crashes, just a few more than me. There is one guy there with a Sport 2 like me yet he just doesn't seem to be able to st it up right, he had very soft inserts in, so he put two sets in, and he has had camber and teo in settings all over the place, he says he can't get any oversteer and he wants a little. I had a nice comedy moment, I had to chase my car around as it was stuck on full throttle and full left lock. The reciever tape wasn't sticky enough and this meant it came loose and pulled out the connection to the ESP, very difficult to catch something so fast and low.

[Herminator]

In reply to ordering over the net, there is very little problem. If the site has the standard security it is as safe as you will get. People think that putting credit card details on the web is bad but if some one wanted to get your details it would be much easier for them to just hack into the companies computers and get them from there, where companies have the details of everyone that has shopped with them, wether online or not. Just look for a small padlock sign and it will be safe, unless the shop uses your details to bill you more than they should but all big companies will not do this and if it does happen your credit card supplier will refund you as part of their insurance.

[zealot]

You're right, Herminator, I'm Stateside, and I didn't know about the high shipping charges.

On your comedy moment, I've had the same thing happen when my battery went dead on my old mechanical speed control - only I was driving an open wheel formula car. Talk about heart in your throat, watch the car you just invested big bucks and a lot of time in going full blast with nothing to protect the front steering arms, linkages, etc.

[Herminator]

I looked into geting my kit from America earlier this year, it looked like I would save about £100 on just the kit but then it would cost me 60 for postage and then I would have to pay tax when it got over here, it seems everything in America is cheaper and you guys get paid more for doing the same job, grr. Yep my bodu shell has a few increased cracks around the front wings now, and a little less paint on the inside of the front, thank goodness we chang body shell styles every half year. Ahwell I'm off to order my new batteries, especially needed since one of mine seems to be dud.

[KC]

I don't know if we get paid more money for work done, but I know our taxes are less. Also, I think most Americans work more hours than many Europeans. I know I have worked as many as 356 days in one year on two separate occasions. I worked 9.5 hours every day those two years except for 9 paid days off, no vacation time. I have also worked as much as 750 hours of overtime in one year. The money looks good but the hours will wear you down quickly. When I visited England in 2000 it seemed like everyone I met was working casual or part time. There is no way you can afford to live in the US working casual, unless you live in your Mom's basement or with someone else with a full time job.

[Herminator]

You seem to work a lot, I'm still a student so I don't work yet, but the UK is known for having some of the longest working hours in Europe. My dad works off the coast of Zaire, on an oil platform, with a lot of Americans and they generally get paid a large amount more, and they get a very good retirement fund.

[Hobson]

Hey guys, I'm back again! Speaking of work, out new track is almost done. All the tarmac is down and levelled and the markers are assembled, waiting to be laid on the track. Then all we need to do is paint.

[Herminator]

Good to see you're back Hobson coz I just recieved my new batteries and a load of gold plug connectors. I was wondetring if you just crimped your connectors or just soldered them or a bit of both. I got theese connectors coz I noticed the connection between the motor and ESC was getting stupidly hot and one of my battery packs seems to be very dodgy too, nad not charging prperly because of it. W finaly have all the peices for our new track markings, all painted white too, the corners will be black in no time, some aready are slightly from just a single nights racing. I hope we find some old trailer or caravan tyres soon to put on the end of the hairpins coz it can sound very nasty if you hit the wood any where. Off to uni now, cya later.

[Herminator]

Well my soldering skills are still a little on the terrible side but I finaly got my motor and ESC plugs on, no crimping possible due to the design of the corraly plugs. Now I'm debating wether or not to start doing all my batteries, which would be eight connections plus the ESC for another two. Is it worth it Hobson? I mean if you don't manage to connect it all the wrong way round .

[touringlegend]

ok, you guys may think I'm a fool, but I'm buying my TC3 from that shop, but am still waiting. I'm a nice person, and I want to buy it from them, as they are really a good shop! Everytime in the past I've went in for stuff, its always been there. I just think the problem with this TC3 is exceptional.

No matter what you say I can't go back on that decision, I have put my name down for one. The reason is that 6 kits are being ordered and there are 4 other boys that have ordered one as well, so I thought I'd better be safe, or I'll never even get to compete in the winter championship!

[KC]

Use the least amount of plugs as you possibly can. I use the Corally style tubular plugs on my batteries but hard solder my motor in. Cheap plugs are handy for taking your car apart, but they are a huge voltage drop. I used to use the Sermos style connectors, but they wore out and started coming apart during the race. Then I switched over to Dean's Connectors, but they are so small and hard to sodler with it grew to aggravating. I buy a bag of male pins for all ESCs and then just buy a stick of 3/16"(0.1875, just over 5mm) brass tubing and make as many female tubes as I need.

The trick to soldering is to have a hot iron, I mean hot enough that the slightest contact with it will burn the hell out of you. Apply the iron to the wire and a tiny bit of solder. Just a little to lightly tin it. Do the same with the motor. The motor tab will take longer to heat up than the wire. Give it a few seconds to heat up. Hold the wire to the tab and heat both together and you won't need any more solder. Never pile it huge globs of the stuff so it looks like a chicken crapped on your solder joint. That is called a cold joint and it will fail.

Remember, if you want a good solder joint, the pieces being soldered have to hot enough to melt the solder, not just melt it with the iron.

[Herminator]

I just finished soldering all my batteries, now I have a sore neck . I've noticed the male plugs are a very tight fit and tend to push out when trying to push them in and so making it harder to get them in. Infact I had to resort to tyining a wire tyrap around the slotted male bit to stop it from springing out. This will make it impossible to change my batteries quickly when racing. does anyone have any idea to make it easier?
I may have put slightly too much solder on they certainly aren't going to come loose, I wish I had a third, or even fourth hand to make soldering easier.